


these bruises make for better conversation

by lostin_space



Series: quick little doodles [40]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Communication, Future Fic, M/M, mentions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 07:16:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21316288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: “Michael, you saw the bruises,” Alex pointed out, “Hell, you saw him pin me to the wall. How did you not know?”
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: quick little doodles [40]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1441564
Comments: 17
Kudos: 98
Collections: Roswell New Mexico ▶ Michael Guerin / Alex Manes





	these bruises make for better conversation

**Author's Note:**

> a questionable self indulgent fic that I've been thinking about since Michael told Max Jesse Manes "snapped"

Alex watched at Michael stood frozen in the middle of the desert.

Both of them had confused looks on their faces. Michael was confused at what Alex had said and Alex was confused about _why_ he was confused. It was common knowledge that Jesse Manes was an abusive, homophobic dick. Michael knew that better than anyone, so why did he act like it was new information?

“Your dad hit you a lot?”

Alex blinked slowly as he continued to stare at him. They were getting to the friends stage of things and apart of that meant going to check on Max together. This time, they’d been talking and Alex had offhandedly mentioned something about getting hit the last time he let his hair get as long as it was.

“Yes,” Alex responded slowly, “But you knew that.”

Michael shook his head, the confusion turning into blatant glaring at the ground. Alex wasn’t following.

“Michael, you saw the bruises,” Alex pointed out, “Hell, you saw him pin me to the wall. How did you _not_ know?”

“I thought he snapped,” Michael admitted, “I thought that me being there is what pushed him. I thought he hurt you ‘cause of me.”

Alex scoffed. He couldn’t help but feel insulted by that. “Not everything is about you. My bullshit didn’t start the day I met you.”

“So, wait,” Michael groaned, rubbing his eyes, “You don’t blame me for what happened that day?”

Alex physically jolted back at that, putting a little bit more distance between them.

“_What?” _Alex scoffed, “Why would I?”

“Because I thought that he snapped because of me. I thought that if I had just gotten my shit together the _first_ night you almost kissed me, we would’ve been fine and you wouldn’t have gotten hurt. But I waited and–”

“He put a _hammer_ through your hand and you thought I _blamed_ you?” Alex said, blatant horror on his face. Michael groaned, dropping his face in his hands. “Oh no, I am not comforting you right now. How the hell did you miss all the signs of abuse? I saw them in you, that’s why I even approached you in the first place.”

“Because I was stupid!” Michael argued, “And I don’t want you to comfort me, I’m just… I’m sorry I didn’t notice. I’m sorry I made it about me.”

Alex breathed slowly and took in the pathetic figure of a man who had just suddenly realized he understood the world wrong. He sighed and gestured with his head towards the car.

“Let’s go get pizza,” Alex said, smiling when his head snapped up with wide eyes, “I’ll tell you everything you wanna know since clearly, you missed a lot.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Alex said, “And you’re buying.”

Michael smiled slightly and slowly began walking towards the car. God, he was stupid. Pretty, but stupid. A genius, actually, but stupid.

“Fair enough.”

**Author's Note:**

> also on my tumblr: spaceskam


End file.
